Reliability evaluation on partial photoneutron cross sections for 142−146,148,150Nd

Systematic disagreements exist mainly in the available partial photoneutron cross sections σ(γ, inX)(i=1,2), which were measured using quasimonoenergetic annihilation photons at the Saclay (France) and Livermore(USA) laboratories based on neutron multiplicity sorting methods. In this study, the reliability of the σ(γ, inX) for 142−146,148,150Nd isotopes obtained at Saclay was evaluated using an experimental-theoretical method that satisfies the data reliability criteria proposed based on the theoretical model in TALYS. Our evaluations were then compared with the major Evaluated Nuclear Data Libraries, and the differences from the available experimental data were analyzed. It was found that the σ(γ, 1nX) data of Saclay were overestimated and the σ(γ, 2nX) data were underestimated in the 144−146,148,150Nd cases, which is consistent with the conclusion of Varlamov; on the contrary, the σ(γ, 1nX) were underestimated and the σ(γ, 2nX) were overestimated in the 142,143Nd cases. Possible reasons for the above inconsistency in the Nd isotopes were further analyzed.